SERIES PREMEIRE REVIEW: Lucifer 1×01 “Pilot ”

You know what is great about the devil, when he is portrayed properly he manages to be the most interesting thing on screen. I mean people constantly say he is a bad influence of the he does nothing good, but that is only the surface layer, or at least the surface Lucifer attempts to portray. Lucifer is an adaptation in the loosest sense of the word as it takes the bare bones skeletal structure and manages to make it work on just enough of a level that I actually want to see where it goes. Basic plot is the devil up and quit hell to move to Los Angeles and run a swanky nightclub, unfortunately for those who know him best he has begun to grow a conscious and now wants to solve crimes. You know procedural stuff rather than the more interesting devil up and quit hell part.

So, lets start off with the really good. Tom Ellis as Lucifer is easily the most compelling part of this entire show. He is charming without being overall dickish, incredibly inquisitive to the point of over confidence, and he manages to make every scene he is in have a ton more energy. It shocking to see the main draw so much more attention and be so much more interesting than everyone else on the screen. You would expect some of the side characters to carry a little bit of the weight but really Ellis does all of the heavy lifting weather it be in the emotional scenes, or simply because he manages to be super charming. Watching him jump for joy when his power finally works or being impressed that Chloe’s daughter kicked a bully in the crotch adds subtle levels to the character. He is not all bad, in fact as we see he is constantly rooting for the little guy as opposed to being the big bad devil.

Unfortunately, where Ellis shines as Lucifer everyone else manages to be very bland and in frame. Maze is very one note and simply wants Lucifer to create Hell on Earth so that they can have a good time while everyone else is suffering. Chloe has a fun backstory and an interesting family dynamic, but she fails to deliver material in any sort of meaningful that makes me care about her. Amenadiel is the only slightly interesting side character besides the therapist that Lucifer runs into and it seems like that is the show the writers actually want to talk about. Watching Lucifer be intimidated and Amenadiel’s clear bloodlust for an all out war between Lucifer and heaven sounds like a far more interesting plot. At the end of the day however Lucifer simply wants time to explore the world and find out why it is all of sudden interesting to him and that means so much for a possible plot.

Despite being the way in for the normal people I felt like the procedural elements of the show worked out better than I expected. Sure the case was fairly straight froward and didn’t have all of the twists and turn I would expect a good mystery to have, but watching Lucifer work a room for information easily made up for some of the slower points. Having Lucifer take a personal interest in the case managed to elevate my interest in some of the slower elements, but I am wondering how he will react when he doesn’t know the victim or finds the case to boring for his attention. Is it simply going to be a sick joy out of solving all of the crimes or will their be a deeper meaning to each case that will build up all of the heaven and hell aspects of the show. Really I just want to see more of Lucifers powers come into play and how every case manages to challenge his ideology. I feel like that will add some mileage to the show on a given week.

Overall it was an ok debut, but I am struggling to see how they will manage to keep this interesting week to week.

Final Grade C

+Tom Ellis’ Lucifer

+Heaven v Hell groundwork

+Fun tone

-Side characters are incredibly uninteresting

-It’s a procedural

Extra Thoughts

-I am going to assume the leggy blond was some sort of divine intervention to get Lucifer into the school.

-I also enjoyed that Lucifer is a Devil of his word as he has to have sex with the therapist. It was a beautifully awkward scene.

-The interaction between the priest and Lucifer was pretty great, as well as calling the groom fugly.

Kickstarter Korner

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